High wall incandescent electric heater



- Aug. 20, 1968' 1 R. s. ORTIZ ETAL 3,

' I HIGH WALL INCANDESCENT ELECTRI C HEATER I Q FiledFeb. 24, 1965 v :s Sheets-Sheet 1 7 INVENTORS Ralph G. Ortiz Cuthbe'rt fyf ATTORNEYS 0, 1968 R. s. ORTIZ ETAL HIGH WALL INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC HEATER Filed Feb. 24, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Oifice 3,398,263 Patented Aug. 20, 1968 3,398,263 HIGH WALL INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC HEATER Ralph G. Ortiz, Tonawanda, and Cuthbert Grant, Williamsville, N .Y., assignors to Markel Electric Products,

Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 434,992 Claims. (Cl. 219--347) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An incandescent electric radiant heating element of generally rectangular cross section is supported in a reflector unit to form a radiant heater assembly. The element and reflector are oriented to project a beam of heat forwardly and downwardly. Means are provided to prevent operation of the heating element unless the assembly is properly mounted against a wall. The assembly is provided with gage means so designed as to render inoperative the means for securing the assembly to the wall unless the assembly is spaced at least a minimum safe distance from the ceiling and side walls of the room.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to concentrate the radiant or incandescent heat upon such a person for maximum sensible and visible heating effect and to avoid inutile dissipation of such heat.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a heater in which the maximum body warming effect from an incandescent heating element of the heater is obtained, this being achieved by a special design of the incandescent heating element and of a semicylindrical-like reflector behind this heating element, both of which are oriented to project a beam of radiant warmth downwardly and away from the wall on which the heater is mounted against the body of a person standing a short distance away and in front of the heater.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a heater which is attractive in appearance and low in cost and can easily be installed upon a wall.

Another object is to provide such a heater which is fully operative in a few seconds and which is economical in the use of current.

Another object is to provide such a heater which is so constructed that the electrician is deterred from mounting it too close to the ceiling or too close to an adjacent side wall and is thereby deterred from mounting the heater in such manner as to create a fire hazard. This object is achieved by providing the heater with a plurality of gage fingers extensible both upwardly and horizontally from the heater, these fingers serving, when projected, to prevent placing the heater too close to the ceiling or to a side wall projecting from the wall on which the heater is mounted.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a heater in which both types of such fingers, that is, vertical and horizontal, are projected by withdrawing one or the other to an operative position and in which a pair of such fingers is provided at both sides of the heater casing so as to be effective in locating the heater not only a minimum safe distance from the ceiling, but also a minimum safe distance from a side wall at either the right or the left of the heater.

Another object of the invention is to further deter mounting the heater too close to either the ceiling or such side wall by providing interference with the attachment of the heater to its wall unless all of the fingers are in their operative position in which condition the casing of the heater must be at a minimum safe distance from the ceiling and such side wall. This is accomplished by having a cam plate connecting the fingers of each pair and which is so arranged as to cover attaching screw holes for the heater thereby to impede the normal screw attachment of the heater to its wall unless all gage fingers are projected to their operative position.

Another object is to provide a heater which is latched to its wall attaching screws so that it is not likely to be accidentally dislodged from its wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide such fingers which are so located as not to be visible to a person standing below and in front of the high wall heater.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diminutive side elevational view of a heater embodying the present invention showing the same mounted on the wall of a room the optimum distance from the floor and the minimum distance from the ceiling.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical fore-and-aft section therethrough taken generally on line 22, FIG. 6.

'FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken generally on line 3-3, FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical fore-and-aft section taken generally on line 44, FIG. 6.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the vertical mounting back plate which supports the heater and shown as secured by screws to a wall of the room, this backing plate carrying a pair of gage or positioning fingers at each side which not only insure that the heater will not be mounted too close, for safety, to the ceiling but also that it will not be mounted too close, for safety, to a wall projecting from the wall on which the heater is mounted.

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view with parts broken away.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken generally on line 7-7, FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a further enlarged front elevational view of the incandescent heating element in the form of a ceramic bar on which a high resistance wire, shown in dotted lines, is wound.

FIG. 9 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 9-9, FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a wiring diagram of the electrical components of the heater.

Orientation of heater The heater 10 of the present invention is designed primarily to function as a high wall heater, that is, to be mounted on the upper part of the wall 11 of a room 12 at between 6 and 7 feet from the floor 13 and not less than 8 inches from the ceiling 14, this latter spacing being for protection against the danger of fire through having the heater too close to the ceiling. The heater is designed to heat the body of a person standing nearby, but to concentrate heat on his head and shoulders, and to this end the optimum installation conditions in a room having a 7 /2 foot ceiling is illustrated in FIG. 1. From this figure it will be seen that the heater is designed to project direct radiant heat downwardly and away from the wall 11 to Warm the body of a person standing nearby, the heater being designed to concentrate reflected heat on the head and shoulders of the person, represented by the eye 17, FIG. 1, the reflected heat for this purpose converging to a. horizontal line about 2 /2 feet from the wall and about 5 feet 3 inches from the floor.

It is also necessary to have the heater a safe distance horizontally from a side wall 15 projecting from the wall 11 on which the heater is mounted. Such safe distance is at least 8 inches.

Vertical mounting back plate and heater positioning fingers The heater includes a vertical mounting back plate 20 which also carries the gage or means for locating the heater a safe distance from the ceiling 14 and from an adjacent projecting side wall 15 at either side of the heater. This vertical mounting back plate is a rectangular sheet metal plate in elevation, as shown in FIG. 5, and near its horizontal center line is provided with two inverted keyhole-shaped screw openings 21, these openings being located equidistant from the opposite vertical edges 22 of the plate. The vertical mounting back plate is fixed to the wall 11 by headed studs or screws 23, the heads being smaller in diameter than the enlarged bottom portions 24 of these slots but larger in diameter than the smaller upper parts of these slots. The vertical mounting back plate 20 can be screwed to the wall 11 by placing it against the wall 11, marking, by tracing, the upper parts 25 of the keyhole slots 21 on the wall 11, removing the plate and then screwing the screws 23 into the wall 11 at these marks, leaving their heads protruding from the wall. The vertical mounting back plate 20 can then be hung from these screws by bringing the enlarged bottoms 24 of its keyhole slots 21 into line with these screws 23 and then moving the plate rearwardly against the wall 11 so that the heads of the screws are caused to pass through the enlarged bottoms 24 of these slots. Upon now shifting the vertical mounting back plate 20 downwardly along the wall 11, the shanks of the screws 23 are caused to enter the small upper parts 25 of the keyhole slots and from which the screw heads will not let the vertical mounting back plate escape horizontally.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of counterpart mechanisms at each side of the vertical mounting back plate 20 to insure against the heater being mounted too close to the ceiling 14 or too close to a Wall corner. Since these mechanisms are identical, the following description of one will be deemed to apply to both.

The numeral 28 represents a pivot pin protruding forwardly from each upper corner of the plate 20, these two pivot pins being equidistant from their respective side edges 22 of the plate as well as equidistant from the top edge 29 thereof. On this pivot pin is pivotally mounted the hub plate 30 of a ceiling gage arm 31, these being made in the form of a single sheet metal stamping and the hub plate rotating about the pivot pin 28 as an axis in face-to-face relation with the front face of the vertical mounting back plate 20. The vertical location of the pivot pins 28 is such that when the ceiling arms 31 are swung to a vertical position, they will engage the ceiling 14 at the minimum safe distance of the heater from the ceiling, this being 8 inches. The pivot pin 28 is preferably of tubular or grommet form with annular heads at its opposite ends, one being behind the vertical mounting back plate 20.

The numeral 35 represents a similar pivot pin of tubular or grommet form arranged in spaced relation below each pivot pin 28 and on which is pivotally mounted the central part of a cam plate 36, this cam plate rotating about the axis of its pivot pin 35. This cam plate 36 is in face-to-face relation with the front face of the vertical mounting back plate 20 and its upper end extends upwardly into face-to-face relation with the hub plate 30 of the ceiling arm 31. The lower end of each cam plate 36 can extend through a diagonal slit 38 in the vertical mounting back plate 20 below the corresponding screw keyhole 21, the portion 39 of the plate 20 below each slit 38 being offset forwardly to provide a pocket or indentation receiving the lower end of the companion cam plate 36.

Coaxial with its pivot pin 35 each cam plate 36 is provided in its upper part with an arcuate through slot 40 in which the pivot pin 28 is arranged, this arcuate slot 40 limiting the rotative movement of the cam plate around the axis of its pivot pin 35 to about 12. Preferably each cam plate 36 is provided in its lower part with a similar arcuate through slot 41 in which is arranged another headed pin 42 projecting forwardly from the vertical mounting back plate 20 and also serving to limit the are 4 v of movement of each cam plate 20 about the axis of it pivot pin 35 to the same 12.

In one extreme position of this cam plate 36 through this are (viewed at the left, FIG. 5) its bottom portion covers the enlarged bottom portion 24 of the companion screw keyhole 21. In this position the upper part of the cam plate 36 is close to the adjacent vertical edge 22 of the vertical mounting back plate 20. In the other extreme position of each cam plate 36 in which its upper end has been swung away from the adjacent vertical edge 22 of the vertical mounting back plate 20 as shown at the right of FIG. 5, the bottom portion of the cam plate 36 does not cover the enlarged bottom portion 24 of its keyhole slot. It is apparent that when the enlarged bottom parts 24 of the keyhole slots 21 are covered, as illustrated at the left of FIG. 5, they have been rendered inoperative to pass over the heads of the screws 23.

Each cam plate 36 includes an arcuate upright cam slot 45 which is arranged between the pivot pin 28 for the ceiling arm 31 and the adjacent vertical side edge 22 of the vertical mounting back plate 20. The concave edge 46 of this arcuate cam slot faces this pivot pin and the bottom of this slot is enlarged as indicated at 48. The edges 46 and 48 of this cam slot are traversed by a cam follower in the form of an offset finger 49 projecting forwardly from that edge of the hub plate 30 remote from the celing finger 31 formed integrally with this hub plate. For easy action the surface of this finger engaging the edges 46 and 48 is preferably rounded.

The upper extremity of each cam plate 36 is provided with a pivot hole 50. This receives a pivot in the form of a laterally offset finger 51 provided at the inboard end 52 of a wall gage finger 53. This inboard end 52 is provided with a straight, parallel sided cam slot '54 extending lengthwise of the wall gage finger 53 and containing a cam follower in the form of a tubular or grommet-like pin 55 secured in the hub plate 30 at the bottom of the A corresponding ceiling gage finger 31.

To support the outer shell or casing 56 and chassis 58 for the electrical components of the heater, the vertical mounting back plate 20 is offset forwardly along the central part of its upper edge 29 to provide a forwardly offset lip 59 (see FIG. 4). A screw attachment lug 60 for the bottom of the shell or casing 56 is welded to the bottom of the vertical mounting back plate 20 this lug comprising a strip of metal having an upright end 61 welded to the front face of the mounting plate 20 at the bottom thereof and an end 62 projecting forwardly and upwardly from the bottom of the vertical welded end 61 at an acute included angle thereto and having a threaded or selftapping screw hole 63 for an attaching screw 64.

The bottom edge of the vertical mounting back plate 20 is indicated at 65. The vertical mounting back panel is also provided at its bottom center with a hole 66 for the push button of a normally open safety switch as hereinafter described.

Wrap around part of casing The casing or shell 56 comprises a one piece sheet metal casing wrap 68 in the form of a sheet of metal formed into the top panel 69 and end heads 70 of the easing or shell. The rear edge of this top panel 69 can be strengthened by a vertical flange 71 which extends the length of and fits behind the offset lip 59 at the top edge of the vertical mounting back plate 20 as best shown in FIG. 4. On opposite sides of this vertical flange 71 the rear edge of the top panel 69 is spaced from the top edge 29 to provide openings 72, FIG. 2, in which the upper ends of the cam plates 36 and the hub plates 30 of the ceiling gage fingers 31 are arranged.

The top panel 69 extends angularly forwardly and upwardly from the top edge 29 of the vertical mounting back plate 20 and its front part is continued angularly downward in the form of a front extension 69 which is at a downward and forward acute included angle to the horizontal. The front edge of this front extension is strengthened by an upright flange 73 the lower edge of which is continued rearwardly, as indicated at 74, to form the top of an opening 75 through which the radiant heat is projected into the room.

The one piece sheet metal casing wrap 68 also forms the end heads 70, these being formed as integral continuations of the end edges 76 of the front extension 69 of the top panel 69 and extending vertically downwardly therefrom. Each of these end heads 70 includes a vertical rear edge which is flanged inwardly, as indicated at 78, FIG. 7, to engage the front face of the vertical mounting back plate 20 at the opposite ends thereof. Each of these end heads 70 also includes a top edge 79 having a transverse flange 80 extending along and fitting under the end edge of the downwardly and rearwardly sloping rear part of the top panel 69 and secured thereto by rivets 81, as best shown in FIG. 3, or in any other suitable manner.

Each of these end heads 70 also includes a front edge 82 which extends downwardly and rearwardly from the forward end of the edge 76 and has a transverse flange 83 having at its upper end a miter joint fit 84, FIG. 6, with the corresponding end of the depending flange 73 of the top panel 69. Flanges 84 extend rearwardly from the opposing edges of the flanges 83 to form the sides of the opening 75 and a pair of spaced tabs 85 protrude from the rear edge of this flange 84 and are threaded through slots and bent over to retain the chassis 58 as hereinafter described.

Each of these end heads includes a bottom edge 86 which extends downwardly and rearwardly from the lower end of its front edge 82 to the lower corners of the vertical mounting back plate 20 and this edge is continued in the form of a laterally inwardly extending flange 88, the opposing edges of these flanges being provided with tab extensions 89 which are adapted to be threaded through slots and bent over to retain the bottom panel 90 of the case or shell 56 as hereinafter described.

Bottom panel of casing This bottom panel 90 is secured by the screw 64 against the bottom of the forward projection 62 of the mounting plate lug 60 in face-to-face relation therewith so that this bottom panel 90 projects upwardly from the lower edge 65 of the vertical mounting back plate 20 along the tops of the bottom lateral flanges 88 of the end heads 70 and to which flanges it is secured by the tabs 89 projecting upwardly through slots 91 in these flanges and which are bent over the tops of these flanges as best shown in FIG. 3. The rear edge of this bottom panel 90 is strengthened by a pair of upstanding flanges 92 on opposite sides of the screw attachment lug 60 and the forward part of this bottom front panel is continued angularly upward in the form of a front extension 90' which is at an upward and forward acute included angle to the vertical. The top edge of this front extension 90' is strengthened by a rearwardly projecting flange '93 which forms the bottom of the opening 75.

This bottom panel 90 has a pair of air inlet vent openings or slots 94; a central opening for the screw 64; an end opening for the stem 95 for an on-ofl rheostat switch 9 6, the external operating knob of which is designated at 98; and an end opening for an insulating collar or grommet 99 through which the two sides 100 and 101 of the main power line are brought into the casing or shell 56.

The chassis The chassis 58 is in the form of a single sheet metal plate having a vertical rectangular back panel 105 arranged in forwardly spaced relation from the vertical mounting back plate 20 as best shown in FIG. 2 and as having its vertical end edges in inwardly spaced relation from the end heads 70 as best shown in FIG. 7. From these edges the back panel 105 is continued forwardly as side panels 106 the forward ends of which are in the form of laterally outwardly extending flanges 108 against which are disposed the rear edges of the flanges 84 of the end heads 70 and are provided with slots 109 which receive the tabs of these end head flanges 84, these tabs being bent against the rear of the chassis flanges 108 to mount the chassis 58 on these end head flanges 84.

The grill A foraminous rectangular sheet metal guard panel or grill 110 has its horizontal upper and lower edges arranged against the rear edges of the horizontal flange 74 of the top panel 69, 69 and the horizontal flange 93 of the bottom panel 90, as shown in FIG. 2 and its vertical side edges sandwiched and clamped between the rear edges of the vertical flanges 84 of the end heads 70 and the flanges 108 of the chassis, as best shown in FIG. 7. The open area of this guard is less than the face area thereof being in the form of rows of large rectangular holes 111 and the upper and lower edges of this guard are preferably reinforced by lateral flanges 112 and 113, FIG. 2. The face area is the sum of the open and blind areas of the guard panel.

The reflector The chassis carries a semicylindrical-like sheet metal reflector 115 arranged with its axis horizontal and with its concave side facing the opening 75 of the casing or shell 56 and the shaping of which is important to obtain the maximum projection of heat and glow from the heating element through this opening and to concentrate it upon the body of a person standing near the heater. This sheet metal reflector has its vertical end edges in contact with the vertical side panels 106 of the chassis 58 as best shown in FIG. 7, and its upper and lower horizontal edge portions are formed into C-shaped rolls or tubes 116 which curl away from the axis of the reflector, thence rearwardly, and thence toward the axis of the reflector, terminating in a flat end strip 118 which projects forwardly and has pressure contact with the rear faces of a pair of generally upright ears 119 punched or offset inwardly from each chassis side wall panel 106 and each of these ears also having edge pressure contact with the body portion of the semicylindrical-like reflector 115 as shown in FIG. 2. To insure proper shaping of the reflector with reference to the incandescent heating element, a third ear 120 is struck or offset from each of the chassis side wall panels 106 to engage the rear face of the reflector at about the 2 oclock position as viewed in FIG. 2.

The incandescent heating element The incandescent heating element comprises a horizontally elongated ceramic bar 126 the ends of which are in closely spaced relation to the chassis end panels 106 as shown in FIG. 7. The ceramic bar, as best shown in FIGS. 7-9 has a longitudinal central bore 128 concentrically in a central longitudinal cylindrical portion 129 and parallel-sided extensions 130 projecting in diametrically opposite directions from this central longitudinal cylindrical portion. The outer longitudinal edge portions of these parallel-sided extensions are transversely enlarged to provide outwardly enlarging wedge-shaped portions 131 each having a rounding face 132 generally in the form of a segment of a cylinder concentric with the axis of the central longitudinal bore 128. Rows of integral spacing teeth or protusions 133' project outwardly from the opposite longitudinal sides of each of these faces 132, each row extending the full length of the ceramic bar 126 and these teeth or protrusions being in helical relation to one another, as shown in FIG. 8, to receive among them a flat high resistance wire 133 helically wound upon the ceramic bar 126 generally concentric with its axis. It will be noted that the enlarging wedge-shaped form of the opposite longitudinal edge portions 131 provide corner beads and a space 134 between the upright stretches 135, 135 of the high resistance wire 133 (shown by dotted lines in FIGS. 8 and 9) so that these stretches are not in contact with the ceramic bar 126 except at their ends.

7 It will also be noted that these stretches 135, 135' are longer, in fact about twice the length, of the fore-and-aft top and bottom stretches 136, 136' which contact the faces 132 of the ceramic bar. The ends of the strip high resistance wire 133 can be laced successively through the pair of transverse holes 137 provided at each end of the ceramic bar as shown in FIG. 6.

The ceramic bar 126 is supported at its ends between a pair of L-shaped sheet metal brackets 138 each having a base flange 139 secured by a bolt 140 to the reflective face of the cylindroid reflector 115 and an arm 141 extending alongside the corresponding end face of the ceramic bar 126 and having a tab 142 punched laterally therefrom and fitted in the bore 128 as best shown in FIG].

Controls and wiring The on-oif rheostat switch 96 is carried by the lower end of a J-shaped bracket 145 the upright part of which is suitably secured to the front face of the chassis back panel 105 as shown in FIG. 2. The side 101 of the power supply line connects with one terminal of this rheostat switch, the other terminal of which is connected by a line 152, FIG. 10, with'a normally open press button safety switch 148 carried by a bracket 149 secured to the chassis back panel 105 and the button 150 of which protrudes rearwardly through the hole 66 in the vertical mounting back plate 20. This push button switch 148 is normally open and is open when its button 150 is free and protrudes beyond the rear face of the vertical mounting back plate 20 as shown by dotted lines in FIG 2, so that when this vertical mounting back plate 20 is attached to the wall 11 by the screws 23, FIG. 5, the press button safety switch 148 is closed and remains closed as long as the heater remains on the wall 11. The moment it is removed from the wall, however, the press button safety switch button 150 resumes to normally open dotted line position shown in FIG. 2 so that the heater cannot be used except when mounted on a wall as specified.

A line 146 connects the other terminal of the press button safety switch 148 with one of the terminals 153 for the high resistance wire 133 of the heating element, the other terminal of which connects with the other side 100 of the main power line. These conventional terminals 153 are preferably each mounted in and extend through the semicylindrical-like reflector 115 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6.

The projection pattern The ceramic bar 126 of the electric incandescent heating element 125 is so shaped and located and the semicylindrical-like reflector 115 so shaped as to project a maximum of warm and visible glow through the opening 75 of the heater and also to project the heat toward the body of a person standing in front of the heater, the optimum concentration of warmth having been found to be at a horizontal distance of about 2 feet 6 inches from the wall 11 on which the heater is mounted and at an elevation of about feet 3 inches from the floor as illustrated in FIG. 1. This concentrates the reflected heat on the head and shoulders of the person, to facilitate hair drying.

To this end, the ceramic bar 126 is set so that the upright front stretches 135 of its incandescent high resistance wire 133 is at about a 16 included angle to the vertical, sloping downwardly and rearwardly so that the broad front incandescent face projects a maximum amount of heat downwardly and forwardly toward the body of a person standing nearby. This direct projection of radiant heat upon the lower part of the body of a person is represented by the dot-dash line a, FIGS. 1 and 2. This entire incandescant front face is, of course, visible to the person.

The upwardly radiated incandescent heat from the top stretches 136 of the high resistance wire 133 is reflected forwardly and downwardly as a beam, designated by the dot-dash lines b and c, by the top part of the reflector 115 to converge toward the head and shoulders of a person standing nearby and represented by his eye 17, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The downwardly radiated incandescent heat from the bottom stretches 136' of the high resistance wire 133 is reflected forwardly and downwardly as beams, indicated :by the dot-dash lines e and f, by the bottom part of the reflector also to converge toward the head and shoulders of the person standing nearby as represented by his eye 17, FIG. 1. A large part of the in candescent heat radiated from the back stretches 135 of the high resistance wire 133 is reflected forwardly and downwardly as beams, indicated by the dot-dash lines g and h, by both the top and bottom parts of the reflector 115 again to converge toward the head and shoulders of a person standing nearby.

Accordingly a large quantity of incandescent radiant heat is projected quickly, both physically and visually, to the body of a person standing in front of the heater from the front, top, bottom, and rear stretches 135, 136, 136' and 135 of the heating element 125 and this heat is directed to his body and concentrated on his head and shoulders so that even if the room is cold he senses the radiant heat and sees the glow not only of the direct radiant heat but also the reflected radiant heat which otherwise would not be seen by him. The user can adjust the vertical spread of heat to his body by standing closer or further from the heater so that he can concentrate the heat on his head in drying his hair or can distribute it over the full heighth of his body.

Installation and -opermion In installing the heater the vertical mounting plate 20 is first removed from the casing 56, this being done by removing the screw 64, this screw fastening the lower part of the casing 56 to the bracket 60 at the bottom of the vertical mounting back plate 20. This vertical mounting back plate 20 can then be removed by drawing it downwardly with reference to the casing 56, thereby to disengage its upwardly extending lip or offset 59 from the downwardly extending lip or offset 71 of the casing 56 (see FIG. 4.)

The desired location for the heater on the upper part of the wall 11 of the room is then selected. One or both of the gage fingers 31 can then be pulled upwardly to a vertical position, swinging about the corresponding pivot pin 28. This causes the projection or small finger 49 on this gage finger 31 to engage the inner end of the edge 48 of the cam slot 45 in the cam plate 36 and to swing it from the position shown at the left of FIG. 5 to the position shown at the right of FIG. 5, that is, the lower part of the cam plate 36 is swung about its pivot mounting 35 toward the adjacent vertical edge 22 of the vertical mounting back plate 20 and it is moved to uncover the lower large part 24 of the corresponding keyhole slot 21 through this vertical mounting back plate 20.

This swinging of this cam plate 36 in this direction to the position shown at the right of FIG. 5 causes its upper end to swing the projection or finger 51 at the bottom of the corresponding gage finger 53 in a corre sponding direction. This causes this gage arm 53 to swing about the axis of its pivot mounting 55 on the hub plate 30 of its gage finger 31. This causes this gage finger 53 to swing a full from the positiorTshown at the left of FIG. 5 to the position shown at the right of FIG. 5, such movement being permitted by the fact that its pivot mounting pin 55 rides in the longitudinal slot 54 of base of each gage finger 53.

With all four gage fingers 31, 53 projected as above described, the vertical mounting back plate 20 cannot be secured too close to the ceiling 14 or too close to a side wall 15 at either side of the mounting plate because these fingers prevent such mounting, Accordingly, the electrician places the vertical mounting back plate 20 at the desired location on its wall 11 but at least the minimum safe distance from the ceiling or any projecting side wall 15 and he marks the upper parts 9 25 of the keyhole slots 21 upon the wall 11 by scribing or tracing their outline upon the wall.

Upon then removing the vertical mounting back plate 20, the electrician can screw the two mounting screws 23 into the wall 11 leaving the heads spaced from the wall a sufiicient distance so that upon passing the heads of these screws 23 through the enlarged parts 24 of the keyhole slots 21 the vertical mounting back plate 20 can be brought flat against the wall 11 and then slid downwardly so that the mounting plate 20 is held by the screw heads against sliding downwardly or falling forwardly from the wall 11. The electrician can then swing the gage fingers 31, 53 back to the nested position shown at the left of FIG. in which these fingers are parallel with each other and extend horizontally across the top of the vertical mounting back plate 20.

In so doing the lower ends of the cam plates 36 swing up to cover the enlarged parts 24 of the keyhole-shaped screw holes 21 so that the heater cannot thereafter be accidentally displaced from the wall.

The casing 56 of the heater, together with the attached chassis 58, reflector 115, incandescent heating element 125 and other electrical components are then attached to the mounted vertical mounting back plate 20 by catching the back lip 71 of the casing 56 over the vertically offset upstanding lip 59 of the back plate 20 and then swinging the bottom part of the casing 56 against the bracket 60, following which the screw 64 is inserted and tightened to hold the casing 56 in properly mounted position.

In this position it will be noted that by virtue of the horizontally elongated form of the heating element 125 and its semicylindrical-like reflector 115, a horizontally broad beam is projected from the front opening 75 of the casing. It will further be observed that by virtue of the cross-sectional height of the ceramic bar 126 being greater than its fore-and-aft dimension the heating element 125 has a large front face radiating area provided by the stretches 135 of its high resistance wire 133 as compared with its top and bottom radiating areas provided by the stretches 136 and 136' of this wire.

Further by arranging the bar 126 so as to be at the angle shown in FIG. 2, that is, with the broad face provided by the stretches 135 of the high resisting heating wire 133 facing downwardly and forwardly at an acute included angle to the vertical, the maximum amount of direct heat projected from the heating element through the opening 75 is downwardly and vertically and against the body of a person standing a short distance away from in front of the heater.

Also the radiant heat projected upwardly by the top stretches 136 of the high resistance heat wire 133 and by the bottom stretches 136' downwardly are reflected forwardly and downwardly through the opening 75 against the head and shoulders of the person standing nearby as indicated at the dot-dash lines b, c and d, e.

In addition a large part of the heat projected by the long rear vertical stretches 135 of the heating element 125 are also projected downwardly and vertically through the opening 75 as indicated by the dot-dash lines g and h. Accordingly a very large amount of the direct radiant heat generated by the heating element 125 is pro ected forwardly and downwardly through the front opening 75 against the full height of the body of a person standing nearby not only to provide immediate physical radiant warmth but also to be visible to him while a large part of the reflected heat is concentrated on i115 head and shoulders as represented by his eye 17, FIG. 1.

It will also be observed that the bar 126 of the ceramic heating element 125 has a very simple and effective mounting upon its L-shaped brackets 138 carried by the reflector 115; that this reflector has a very simple mounting in its upper and lower tubular curls or tubes 116 on ears 119 punched from the side panels 106 of the chassis 58; that the proper shaping of the semicylindricallike reflector 115 is insured by the ears 120 of the chassis which engage the back of the body part of the reflector and that the heater as a whole is of low cost construction and at the same time of very attractive appearance.

We claim:

1. A heater adapted to be mounted on the upper part of the wall of a room, comprising a casing having a horizontally broad opening in its front part, means adapted to secure the rear part of said casing to said upper part of said wall, a horizontally elongated bar of dielectric material mounted in said casing in position to be generally parallel with said wall when said casing is so secured thereto, a high resistance wire wound helically on said bar generally coaxially therewith, said bar in cross section being of substantially greater extent up and down than fore-and-aft whereby longer lengths of said helically wound high resistance wire are arranged along the front face of said bar and shorter lengths thereof are arranged along the upper and lower faces of said bar, and a semi-cylindrical-like reflector arranged axially generally parallel with said horizontally elongated bar and mounted in said casing between said rear part of said casing and said heating element with its concave side facing said opening and its upper and lower parts being respectively above and below said heating element, and said reflector being arranged to reflect radiant heat from the lengths of wire arranged along the back, top and bottom of said horizontally elongated bar downwardly and forwardly through said opening, said semi-cylindrical-like reflector comprising a sheet of metal having its upper and lower edges formed into integral tubular horizontal rolls extending lengthwise of said heating element and the mounting for said reflector comprising a sheet metal chassis arranged within and fixed to said casing and having vertical side panels arranged alongside the curving edges of said reflector and its tubular rolls, and ears struck laterally from each of said panels into the ends to said tubular rolls to support said reflector.

2. A heater as set forth in claim 1 including an additional ear struck laterally from each of said panels in position to engage the back of said reflector at a distance from its tubular rolls, thereby to retain the desired relation of its reflective surface to said heating element.

3. A heater adapted to be mounted on the upper part of a room wall near the ceiling projection and near a vertical side wall projection extending laterally from said wall, the heater having a casing means with a back vertical attachment wall and an opening in its front part, an incandescent heating element mounted in said casing means to project radiant heat forwardly through said opening, and at least one attachment opening in said back wall forming an edge adapted to hook over a stud fastened to said wall in order to mount the heater on the wall, wherein the invention comprises a gage deterring securing said casing means too closely to at least one of said projections, including a finger pivotally mounted'on said casing to swing about a horizontal axis into engagement with one of said projections and of a length at least equal to the minimum safe spacing of said casing from said one of said projections, and means actuated by the retraction of said finger from its engagement position to extend over and render inoperative said attachment opening for receiving said stud whereby said finger in said engagement position deters said casing from being attached less than the minimum safe distance from said one of said projections.

4. A heater as set forth in claim 3 wherein said gage comprises two such fingers, one swingable into engagement with said ceiling projection and the other swingable into engagement with said side wall projection.

5. A heater as set forth in claim 4 wherein said fingers nest into a generally parallel horizontal inoperative position at the top and rear of said casing so as not to be visibly obvious to one standing below the heater.

6. A heater as set forth in claim 4 wherein said gage comprises two pairs of such fingers each pair being pivotally mounted on said casing means at a corresponding vertical end of said opening in its front part and including one finger swingable into engagement with said ceiling projection and another finger swingable into engagement with a side wall projection at the adjacent side of said casing means.

7. A heater as set forth in claim 4 wherein said gage includes a second finger pivotally mounted on said first mentioned finger and swingable into engagement with the other of said projections.

8. A heater as set forth in claim 4 wherein said means actuated by the retraction of said finger includes a cam plate pivotally mounted on said casing to swing about t a generally horizontal axis, cam means operatively connecting said finger to said cam plate to swing said cam plate in response to swinging said finger to and from its said engagement position, and means swingably connecting a second finger both to said cam plate and to said first mentioned finger and moving said second finger to a position to engage the other of said projections in response to such swinging of said first mentioned finger to its said engagement position, and vice versa.

9. A heater as set forth in claim 4 wherein said back vertical attachment wall comprises a vertical mounting back plate removably attached to said casing means, said vertical mounting back plate having at least one stud hole adapted to receive a stud to attach it to said one Wall, and said means actuated by the retraction of said finger including a swinging plate pivotally conneeted to said vertical mounting back plate and pivotally connected to said finger to swing said swinging plate to a position to cover at least a part of said stud hole when said finger is swung to its retracted position from its said engagement position thereby to deter securing said vertical mounting back plate to said one wall with out said finger being in its said engagement position.

10. A heater as set forth in claim 9 additionally including a second finger pivotally connected to said first mentioned finger and said swinging plate to move said second finger to engage the other of said projection in response to such swinging of said first mentioned finger to its said engagement position and vice versa.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,542,967 6/1925 Shoenberg 219-352 1,688,168 10/1928 Whittaker 219-347 X 1,724,585 8/1929 Hicks 219546 X 1,850,616 3/1932 Barnett 33-480 X 2,232,492 2/1941 Steingruber 219352 X 2,694,765 11/1954 Hynes 338298 2,879,369 3/1959 Huseby 219347 X 3,217,139 11/1965 Barber 219-347 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,704 8/ 1914 Great Britain. 485,004 5/ 1938 Great Britain.

ANTHONY BARTIS, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,398 ,263 August 20 1968 Ralph G. Ortiz et a1.

It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 8, line 5, "as beams, indicated" should read as a beam, designated Signed and sealed this 6th day of January 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Commissioner of Patents Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer 

